


The ground we stand upon

by WowzaPigs



Series: Dust to Dust [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Awful Puns, Dadster, Flowey is evil, Multi, sans remembers the timelines, timeline bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:45:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 12,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7121941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WowzaPigs/pseuds/WowzaPigs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I am seriously open to any suggestions. I'm sorta just making it up as I go... So I want any ideas you have! Bye for now!</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. In which Sans is lazy

**Author's Note:**

> I am seriously open to any suggestions. I'm sorta just making it up as I go... So I want any ideas you have! Bye for now!

Sans was laying in bed, thinking. Although he was constantly sleeping during the day, he could never get enough sleep during the night. He never really bothered to try anyways, since whenever he did fall asleep he had nightmares. Of Frisk destroying everything. He didn't know which was worse, the nightmares that left him sweating and anxious, or the gnawing void that filled him every waking hour. He didn't really care either. He wished for once the kid would just let them free and be happy. He didn't understand why they kept bringing them back, why they couldn't just leave the timelines alone. But somehow, without fault, they always did. And he remembered. His head hurt, and he tried to sleep for once. He fell asleep but even in the dark hollows of his mind the resets followed him, and they were taunting him constantly, almost giving him his happy ending and then yanking it away. He tossed and turned in his sleep.

The next day he awoke to the sound of Papyrus knocking on his door. "Wake up brother, we have work to be done! You can't even drag yourself out of bed in the morning without me waking you up!" Papyrus shouted at him.  
"Kay bro. Just give me a few more... Hours." Sans replied.  
Papyrus burst into the room and said to Sans, "Now brother or I will have to use force!" Sans sighed and dragged himself out of bed. "Come on, I want to be out there on time so that if a human comes, I will be ready!"  
Sans yawned and began to trudge down the steps, knowing Papyrus was the only thing getting him up in the morning and wishing that he could be a better brother. Papyrus and Sans walked to their stations, Sans occasionally lagging behind due to his tiredness and stature. They arrived at their station west of Snowdin and began their work watching for humans. Sans almost fell asleep, but stopped himself. This is the day the kid arrives, he reminded himself. I gotta go meet them. "Hey bro." He said "I gotta go for a minute, I'll be right back." 

Papyrus sighed but let his brother go. "Come back soon, don't slack off." Papyrus reminded him. Sans left to go meet the kid. Papyrus sat bored for a minute but suddenly a shape popped out of the ground. "Oh! Flowey, you scared me!" Flowey smiled. "Sorry, friend! I didn't mean to startle you. So. How's life for you?" Flowey giggled. Papyrus sighed. "My brother is being very lazy today, as usual. I almost had to drag him out of bed this morning." Flowey put on a sympathetic expression. "I'm sorry, friend! Sometimes people just need a little push to get them to work harder. I'm sure things will look up for you soon.” And with that, he ducked back into the soil and was gone. Papyrus never understood how Flowey did that. Papyrus watched the snowfall. He could never get bored here; it was too pretty. He hoped Sans was doing something important for once. Probably not. He had better go find him. So he headed to Grillby's, even if Sans had headed in the opposite direction (he always seemed to end up where he wanted, no matter which route he took). As he started walking, Flowey popped up beside him.  
"Howdy!" He said cheerfully. Papyrus greeted him. Flowey looked at Papyrus for a while and said "Hey Papyrus, do you want to "hang out" with me later? I want to talk to you a bit more."  
Papyrus grinned at Flowey. "Wowie! Sure thing, Flowey!" Flowey almost laughed but caught himself.  
"Oh, and by the way, friend, Sans is back at the station." He winked at Papyrus and ducked back into the soil.

 

Sans approached the human cautiously. What kind of run would this be?  
"Human" he started.  
"Cut the crap Sans, I know it's you."  
Sans' eyes widened. They'd never done that before.  
Frisk sighed. "Sorry. It's just, something's been really bothering me. This run is different. Someone or something came down with me. Flowey didn't show up after the ruins and he was acting weird before them too... Like he knew something I didn't. I don't like it." Sans furrowed his non existent eyebrows, worried. The kid had never acknowledged the fact that the timelines even existed, much less flat out told him at the beginning of a run.  
Sans looked at the kid. That wasn't the face of a murderer. "Alright kid. I'll help ya out. Just promise me one thing." He frowned slightly "promise me you won't kill them this time."  
Frisk looked like they were about to cry. "I promise!" They choked out and threw their arms around Sans. "Oh Sans, I'm so sorry! I can't believe I did so many horrible things! I-" Tears ran down their cheeks and they wiped their eyes with their sleeve.  
"I'm so sorry." They whispered. Sans looked sadly at the small human. He hesitated for a moment before saying "Hey kiddo, you weren't in control. Besides, everyone is un-dead now, right? I just... don't know if I could go through that again." He thought about standing across the hall from them and watching as bone after bone impaled their body, as they wheezed out one final breath before dropping limply to the ground. He thought about finding his brother's scarf in a pile of dust. But then he thought about Frisk eating his brother's spaghetti, even though it was terrible. He thought about them laughing at his bad puns. He thought about them sparing even the most terrible of monsters, even soulless beings like Flowey, and he found that, despite all the terrible things they had done, he really was willing to forgive them. More than that, he was willing to make friends again.


	2. In which Flowey is not suspicious at all.

Papyrus was slightly unnerved, but it was nothing too new for him. Flowey was strange, but he was also a friend. Papyrus went back to the station and sure enough, there was Sans, standing next to the station. “Where have you been, brother?” Papyrus asked.  
Sans shrugged “I was just walkin’ around, my joints felt a little stiff.”  
“Well. Are your joints feeling better?” Asked Papyrus.  
“Yup”  
“Then you’d better get back to work.”  
“Uh sorry bro, my back’s feeling a little sore.”  
Papyrus raised an eyebrow. “Come on brother, get to work.”  
Sans smiled. “Welp. It was worth a shot.”  
Papyrus sighed. “I will attend to my puzzles.”  
With that he marched off, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow.  
“Okay kid, you can come out now” Sans said. Frisk walked slowly from behind a very strange lamp. Why did they even have a lamp out here, anyways? Oh well. It had helped them stay hidden.  
Sans smiled at the kid, but there was an hint of sadness in there. “Hey kiddo, wanna go to Grillby’s with me?”  
“Sure” Frisk said simply. Sans knew they usually didn’t go until waterfall, but he thought it would lighten the mood.  
“C’mon, I know a shortcut.”

Papyrus couldn’t concentrate on his puzzles. He had a feeling of being watched, and he didn’t like it. He shivered, despite the fact that he couldn’t feel the cold.  
“Hello?” he said, a little quieter than usual. “Is anybody there?”  
It could have been just a trick of his imagination, but he thought he heard something like… Whispering? He decided to finish up work early that day. He strolled home, enjoying the feel of wind on his bones. The trees seemed like they had been here forever, despite being planted only when monsters first came underground. Of course the trees didn’t have any sunlight down here, but the monsters managed to grow them with magic alone. Magic sure did have a lot of uses. When he got home, he went upstairs to his room and checked his emails. He had been receiving emails from someone claiming they could get him an free cell phone. His brother said that those were “scams” and not to listen to them, so he dragged them over to his trash folder. He didn’t really have much to do, so he decided to try to clean Sans’ room. He opened the door and surveyed the mess. This was going to take a lot of work. He started picking up all the dirty socks and putting them in one pile. Then he did the same with all the paper scattered around the room. He went and got a laundry basket to put the socks in. He heaped them all into it. Next he straightened out all the paper on the floor. He couldn't help but notice a drawing on one of them. He didn't know Sans drew. The drawing had three badly drawn people. It looked like him, Sans and another monster he didn't recognize. The words "Don't forget" were hastily scribbled on the back of the paper. Papyrus shrugged and went back to work.


	3. In which Papyrus is completely fine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! Sorry if the chapters are a bit short, but I'm just trying to get them out faster rather than you guys having to wait like a month for a new one to come out, if anyone's actually checking this for updates XD. Anyways, if you want longer chapters, tell me and I'll do my best. Thanks to anyone actually reading this :).

Grillby's was warm and comfortable, and Frisk could feel themselves relaxing by the minute. They both decided to get a burger, and told the fiery bartender their order. Frisk’s face was still a little red from them crying, and it reminded Sans of Cha- no! This was not Chara! Frisk wanted to make friends, and he couldn’t if he kept thinking of all the horrible things Chara had done. Frisk looked at him and smiled. He smiled back, despite himself. Grillby brought them their food and Sans smeared his with ketchup, while Frisk politely declined. Suddenly Sans spoke up.  
"So. You said something fell down with you. What do you think it was?" Frisk sighed.  
"I have absolutely no idea." They said. Sans grinned.  
"Lighten up, at least you're not... Falling apart." Frisk cracked a smile at that, and they dropped the subject. Sans got up.  
"Welp. My bro'll go off at me if he finds out I've been away from my station this long, so I gotta go kid. See ya." And with that he walked out the door. Frisk ate the last few bites of their burger and left as well. They smiled to themselves as a thought passed through their mind. They walked to an area where nobody was around and said loudly,  
"Come on Flowey. I know you're listening. We need to talk." Nothing happened. Frisk spoke slightly louder. "Come on! I'll get Sans to kick your ass!" Frisk knew it was a flimsy threat; they doubted that they could get Sans to care enough to actually hurt Flowey, but they also knew that Flowey was scared of Sans, and always would be. Flowey popped up out of the ground, frowning. They weren't meant to do that. Frisk smiled.  
"Now, be a nice little flower and tell me what came down here with me, or you'll have worse than a bad time." Frisk knew they were supposed to be a true passivist, but they technically weren't harming Flowey, and they sure as heck weren't going to be nice to him. Flowey grinned.  
"Heh. I'm not afraid of smiley trashbag. I just came because I wanted to tell you something. All I wanted to say is that you can't do that. You have to play by the rules, Frisk. Like I always do. Well, sort of." He giggled. Frisk rolled their eyes at Flowey.  
"I'm tired of playing by the damn rules. Plus, I know you messed with the timelines. That's not playing by the rules, is it?" Flowey frowned.  
“Who said I messed with the timelines?”  
“I did.” Frisk replied. Flowey glared at them and ducked back under the soil. Frisk was disappointed that they couldn’t get any information out of him but then again, what did they expect? They sighed and continued walking forward.

Papyrus was standing in the clearing with his brother, talking about Undyne and the royal guard, when suddenly a small figure entered the clearing reluctantly, stepping forward towards them.  
“Oh my god! Brother, is that… a human!?” He asked excitedly.  
“Yep.” came the reply. The human frowned. No humor? That’s strange.  
“Oh my god! I’ll be famous! I’ll get everything I deserve! I’ll finally be able to join the royal guard! I'll... ahem. Human! You shall not pass this area. I, the great Papyrus, will stop you with my expertly made puzzles and tasty traps! So continue… if you dare! Nyeh heh heh heh!” Frisk smiled and continued walking, but Sans stopped them.  
“Hey, uh, kiddo? I have to show you something. Come with me.” Frisk nodded and followed him. They walked in silence until they reached Doggo’s station. Then Sans motioned for them to stop. They looked at him expectantly. Why were they here? Sans sighed.  
“Look at this.” He pointed to something just beside the checkpoint. Something grey, or… Frisk gasped as they realised what it was.


	4. In which Flowey gets his ass handed to him (actually on second thought Flowey doesn't really have an ass to get handed to him but whatever this is a fanfiction chapter title you can say anything)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! sorry if I took a long time to upload! I had to go to this festival thingy. (: enjoy!

No. No. This could not be happening. They reeled in shock. They shouldn’t be that scared or even surprised, right? After all, they had seen dust before. They made an small noise that sounded like a cross between a whimper and a howl. Sans shot a strange look at them.  
“It wasn’t me, asshole!” They shouted. Sans shrugged.  
“Never said it was you.” Frisk looked angry, which was, in Sans’ opinion, unjustified. Even if he did suspect the kid a little bit, he couldn’t really be blamed, considering what they’d done. They frowned.  
“It really wasn’t.” they said quietly. Sans sighed.  
“Look kid. I also heard a report of a kid in a striped shirt, killing things, and Tori’s gone quiet. If I’m suspicious, there’s a reason, kiddo. I’m not saying I don’t trust you, but… I don’t trust you.”  
“A kid in a striped shirt. Could you think of no other possibilities, Sans? Hmm, a kid in a striped shirt that’s killing things, it MUST be Frisk. Couldn’t be another kid that happened to slowly take over my body and kill an entire race!” Sans looked at them doubtfully.  
“But how could ch- they come back on their own?” Frisk shrugged.  
“Beats me. Now I’m going to go do a puzzle.” They said pointedly. Sans shrugged, and teleported away to Grillby's. He needed a drink. Preferably ketchup. He was about to enter when something grabbed his arm. He looked down. It was a vine. The lights in his eyes snuffed out and he looked down to see Flowey, smiling up at him. Sans sighed.  
"Whadda ya want, weed?" He demanded. Flowey's grin widened.  
"Hey, calm down smiley trashbag, I just wanted to ask you something. Sans grinned.  
"Sorry. No can do Flowey." Flowey rolled his eyes at him.  
"And why might that be?" Sans' eyes snuffed out again and he started to summon his gaster blaster.  
"Because dead people can't talk." Flowey felt the energy of the blaster cracking his petals and he let out a ear-splitting screech before dropping limply to the ground with a soft thud. Flowey wasn't dead, just injured and he smiled tauntingly up at Sans.  
"Go ahead. Kill me. I'm the only one that knows what fell down with Frisk and why." Sans looked down at him and felt his blaster fade away.  
"I'm not gonna kill ya, weed, ya'd just come back, but come near me again, and I will. And it will not be pleasant." Flowey slipped back into the soil and went to waterfall to recover. Flowey didn't like waterfall much, but it was a good place to regenerate with not many people around, and he liked the echo flowers because they were good for playing tricks on people. He sat down next to an echo flower and whispered,  
"Flowey, for all your talking flower needs." He grinned and went to another one.  
"Flowey is always watching." This was addicting.  
"Flowey is your best friend."  
"In this world, it's kill or be killed. Love Flowey!" He went to the next flower but paused, recognizing the voice coming from it.  
"Asriel." That's all it said. Flowey frowned and started to back away, but another flower appeared behind him that wasn't there before.  
"Asriel." He started to run, but more echo flowers popped up around him, circling him. Asriel. Asriel. Asriel. Asriel. He suddenly became very angry. He could tear these flowers apart in an instant! So why did he continue to stand there? He frowned. This was ridiculous! He summoned his frendliness pellets, and started to send them towards the flowers, but they dwindled away after a few seconds. Flowey started sobbing uncontrollably. For once, he was actually helpless. And to something that was barely even alive! He couldn't stop it. He laid there in a puddle of his own tears for what felt like hours, and the flowers taunted him mercilessly. He didn't know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, they were gone, as if they had been nothing but a dream.


	5. In which nothing else bad happens to Papyrus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're filled with procrastination! But seriously sorry! I procrastinate alot. Even with things I love doing. I'm weird like that.

Frisk was with Papyrus, doing a puzzle. It was actually pretty good, and Frisk was having a hard time figuring it out. They had a sneaking suspicion Sans had helped, because the puzzles were usually all the same. Papyrus looked at them and said.  
"You look tired, human! Would you like to take a break and have some spaghetti?" Frisk looked surprised. Did their exhaustion really show that clearly? They grinned.  
"That would be great." Papyrus flipped a switch hidden in a snow poff nearby and they walked to Papyrus' house. Papyrus took a key out from underneath the doormat, and they walked in. Papyrus walked into the kitchen and said to Frisk, "I have plenty of leftover spaghetti, bit a houseguest should always have meals home-cooked! Nyeh heh heh!" Frisk smiled and replied.  
"Thanks, Papyrus. Do you want me to help?" At that moment Frisk swore they saw tiny stars in Papyrus' eyes. He grinned.  
"Of course, human. Wowie! Humans must be really cool if they also like spaghetti!" Frisk smiled, and figured maybe they wouldn't even have to fight him this time. He seemed to be fond of them already. Papyrus got some tomatoes and various vegetables out of the fridge and a small bowl on the counter. He almost smashed them with his fists, but Frisk said quietly,  
"Wait. Why don't you try this instead?" They handed him a knife and got one of their own, and began to cut the vegetables. Papyrus stared.  
“No human, you’re doing it all wrong! You’re supposed to smash them!” Frisk laughed.  
“C’mon Paps, trust me.” Papyrus sighed.  
“Alright human, you’d better know what you’re doing.” He started cutting the vegetables and they put the sauce aside. Frisk slid the noodles into the pot and turned the stove to medium. They sat in silence for a moment while the noodles cooked, but then Papyrus said,  
“Umm… human? Sans said to be careful of you. He said he didn’t want to lose me again. But I don’t get it. When did he lose me before? And why should I be scared of you? You’ve done nothing to hurt anyone. And… he sometimes talks in his sleep. He says things like ‘I can’t afford not to care anymore’ and ‘Dirty brother killer’ and… he said your name. I don’t understand it. Even before he ever met you he had dreams about you?” Frisk sighed. What were they supposed to do in this situation? They wondered if they should just tell him the truth. They decided they should tell him. I mean, even if it turned out badly, they could always just reload their save, right? They took a deep breath and started to speak.  
“I’m not sure where to start, but I’ll try to tell you the truth. You might find this hard to believe, but you have to try. I’ve been here before. I’ve cooked spaghetti with you before. I’ve become your friend before. I’ve seen you become head of the royal guard before, or at least heard an phone call about it. I’ve freed everyone. But… I’ve also… killed everyone.” Papyrus recoiled in shock. he looked alarmed.  
“But, how is that even possible?”  
“I have something called determination, which allows me to manipulate time. I could reset right now and you would have no memory of this… and about Sans. He remembers. When I reset. You may find this hard to believe, but he’s the strongest monster in the ga-underground. He has killed me countless times. Your brother is not lazy, Papyrus. He’s lost hope that anything he does matters.” Papyrus looked like he was about to faint he sat down on a chair nearby. Frisk grimaced.  
“Well. Now you know the truth. I… understand if you hate me. But I want you to know that I’ve changed and I will never kill you ever again.” Papyrus looked sad but said.  
“Th-thank you human. I knew you could change.” He started.  
“Wait what? What did I just say? I-Gaster-timelines-what-no-Sansss” He ran out the door. Frisk started to run after him, and hoped Sans wasn’t upset.


	6. In which there is some backstory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More gwsu (that's the official name now) junk. Thanks to all you guys reading this! I have like, seven kudos right now, but wow! Even that many helps me (heh) stay determined to continue this. So thanks. I'll stop rambling now.

Sans stood in the doorway Papyrus was standing in front of him, out of breath, even though he was an skeleton (magic…?). Papyrus was speaking very fast and Sans couldn’t understand him very well.  
“Woah, slow down Pap. What’s going on?”  
“I remember.” Papyrus said and then sank down into the doorframe. Sans reeled. What? No! This can’t be happening. All that trouble to keep his brother ignorant of the timelines, and now… How? How does he remember? Then Frisk arrived, and it all clicked into place for Sans.  
“You little…” Papyrus grabbed Sans’ arm and stopped him. Sans struggled, but Papyrus was stronger than him.  
“Promise not to hurt the human and I’ll let you go.” He said. Sans sighed.  
“Fine! I promise not to hurt the human! Now let go!” Papyrus did, and Sans approached Frisk, eyes completely dark.  
“I’d like to talk to Frisk. Alone.” Papyrus hesitated, but then went inside. He had a lot to consider. Sans sighed. He didn’t look that angry anymore, just sad.  
“Why? Why would you tell him? Don’t you realise what you do in this timeline affects all the other timelines after this? The only way to undo this is a true reset. He will remember the timelines now. The experiment affected him too.”  
“What experiment?” Sans sighed.  
“Gaster’s experiment. I guess it’s storytime, kiddo.” He said sarcastically. “A long time ago, there was a man called Gaster. He was the royal scientist and a good one at that. He had two kids, named Papyrus and Sans, who helped out with his research. He was researching the timelines, and wanted to make a machine to hop the timelines. After many years of research, he succeeded. He began to hop the timelines, but one day, the machine broke while he was in it, and he was sent to a place between the timelines, an empty void. Me and Paps were near the machine when it broke, and it caused me to remember the timelines, and Paps to lose his memory. The end.” Frisk had a feeling that wasn’t the end, but didn’t push it. They stood in silence for a moment. Tears began to form in Sans’ eyes.  
"I've never told anyone that." Frisk wasn't sure what to do. They looked at Sans and hesitated for a second before saying quietly,  
"I'm sorry Sans." Sans let out a dark chuckle and said,  
"Fer what, kid?" Frisk sighed.  
"When did things get so messed up?"  
"I don't know. When is a sketchy term with us."  
"Point taken. We should probably talk to Papyrus now. He probably needs some support after that." Sans nodded. He opened the door and walked through, Frisk following close behind. Papyrus was sitting on the couch. His eyes had a glazed over look and he was staring blankly at the wall. He didn't seem to notice them, until he said  
"I understand why you kept it from me. This is a great burden to carry. But if anyone can do it, I can." He sounded so resolved, like he had come to this conclusion a while ago. He looked older, somehow, and his volume had lowered. Sans looked pained, and took a step toward Papyrus.  
"Bro... I'm sorry this had to happen. I... Well, I guess this was bound to happen eventually, but just... Don't end up like me, okay? I couldn't stand to see that happen." Papyrus nodded grimly.  
"Brother, can I take the day off work today? I have... a lot to think about."


	7. In which there is no dark themes at all (who am I even kidding here)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chara swoops in and ruins everything. Sorry. Also, watch out for dark humor. Also, hi. Yes, you. In the shirt. (Lol reference to notes section of other fanfic)(why am I making references to a notes section of a fanfic in the notes section of my fanfic? Lol idk) okay! See you nerds next time.

Sans nodded. It was only fair. His brother would not become a sad, useless excuse for a monster. Sans would make sure of that. He would make sure that Papyrus was safe and happy, no matter what. Ugh, it was going to be hard. But they'd have each other. And Frisk too, hopefully. He opted to work today. Someone had to pay for the rent. He said his goodbyes to Papyrus, whose eyes still looked glazed over, and Frisk, who was looking apologetic, and began his walk to the sentry station in Snowdin. He stayed there for a few minutes, before heading to the huge door that marked the entrance to the ruins. He knocked. He kept hoping he would hear a gentle voice on the other side saying,  
"Who is there?" But he didn't. Strangely, as he turned around to leave, he heard a different voice.  
"Who's there?"  
"Corpse"  
"Corpse who?" The voice sounded delighted. He knew that voice. That's the voice that had belonged to the person he had killed, so long ago, in a different timeline.  
"Corpse you if you don't leave me and my friends and, heck, all of monster kind alone." The voice giggled.  
"My turn. Knock knock."  
"Who's there?"  
"Dust"  
"Dust who?"  
"Dust Toriel." Chara giggled, like this was the funniest joke they had ever heard. Sans growled.  
"It's not polite to laugh at your own jokes." They giggled again.  
"The real joke is you. All that power, gone to waste. Too bad I never got to kill you until the very end. Things would have been so much easier with that much LOVE. Oh well. The past is in the past. Well, until it isn't. Until the past is the future and everything is jumbled and, well, I'm getting ahead of myself. I'll go now. But rest assured, I'll be back. I'll be back." Their voice warped on the last sentence, sounding more like a demon than a child. Well, they practically were a demon, so that's not saying much. He tried opening the door. It was locked. Figures. He considered just teleporting in, but, well... His last encounter with them wasn't exactly pleasant, and let's just say he wasn't exactly eager to repeat that experience. He teleported back to his house in Snowdin. Work could wait. He walked up to Papyrus's room, where Frisk was helping him design a puzzle. Sans opened the door and Papyrus and Frisk both looked confused.  
"Why are you back from work so early, brother?" Papyrus asked.  
"No time for that bro, Frisk, come with me." Frisk shrugged and obliged.  
"Be right back, Paps." Once they were out of earshot of Papyrus Frisk asked,  
"So why am I here? This had better not more false accusations because I-"  
"I know it wasn't you." He interrupted them. They looked relieved.  
"I need you to save the timeline, and then see if you can still reset."  
"Why wouldn't I be able to-"  
"Just do it." What was with him and interrupting them? They reached out to the small glinting save star in front of them. *The chance of redemption fills you with determination. They walked over to Sans, and thought back to a few seconds ago, when they had saved. Time shifts slightly. They walked over to Sans again.  
"It worked." He laughed in relief.  
"It worked!" But underneath that smile was endless worry.  
"Now can you tell me why exactly that was necessary?" They asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This May or may not be a link to my youtube:  
> https://m.youtube.com/user/roo4yoo


	8. In which Flowey is friendly and nice and not at all murderous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, these chapters keep getting harder to write. Even though they're super short. Oh well. My determination game is strong today. It's 7 am, birds are singing, flowers are DEAD cuz' it's winter here, and weirdos like me should be going outside, but nope, gotta stay inside and write my fanfiction today!  
> *writes for fifteen minutes.  
> *gets a notification from youtube  
> *stays on youtube for rest of the day  
> *gets 1 kudos  
> *dies of happiness and gratitude  
> *realises people have like 2000000 kudos  
> *realises I should put more "backbone" into my writing  
> *doesn't care  
> *is lazy

"...and apparently they're hiding out in the ruins." He finished.  
"Wow." Frisk said.  
"Yeah." He agreed. They sat in silence for a minute as they mulled over this new information. If Chara was here, then that was probably what came down with them. What Flowey brought down. They grimaced. Flowey and Chara working together could only mean trouble. Sans spoke up.  
"Better get back to Papyrus." Frisk nodded. They got up wordlessly and followed Sans toward the house. It wasn't far from their save point. They thought about Flowey and Chara as they walked. Who could they count on their team? They had themselves, of course. Sans would help. They knew Papyrus was strong, but he was also nice to the point where he wouldn't hurt anything. He had never killed them in a single run. Could he fight? They were'nt sure. And they had the power to reset. They hoped it sticked around. They reached the house, but something was wrong. The door was jammed shut with vines. Sans froze. Flowey popped out of the ground, smiling.  
"Boy, what a great idea! Leaving Papyrus all on his own..." He saw the looks on their faces and chuckled.  
"Don't worry. I didn't kill him. Good battle strategy, by the way, making him remember the timelines. I can't believe you would ruin his innocence, though, just to destroy me! I thought you would be too soft! Or was it an accident? Either way, it'll be interesting to see what happens next. See ya!" He ducked back under the soil.  
"So now Flowey knows." Frisk said.  
"I guess so. He's right though. We should be more careful." Frisk nodded. They opened the door, which Flowey had uncovered.  
"We'd better see if Papyrus is okay."  
"Yep." They walked up the stairs to Papyrus's room. It was a pleasant room, with his neatly made racecar bed and figurines sitting on the table. Light filtered through the window. They always wondered where the underground got it's light. Hotland had lava and the core was probably lighted artificially, but the rest of the underground was a complete mystery. They could spend years down here, just figuring out how it works. Not that they wanted to. Papyrus was sitting on his bed.  
"I remember Flowey." He said. "I understand that he's not my friend but... I still want to help him. Is that bad? Is it wrong? Does it make me stupid?" Sans frowned.  
"No." He said quietly. "It makes you kind." Frisk nodded in agreement.  
"I want to help Flowey too... It's just hard when he's being a jerk." Sans chuckled.  
"You can say that again." Frisk gave him a pointed look. He grinned apologetically. Papyrus looked questioningly at them.  
"Flowey said I was an idiot. He said bad things. He called me a toy and he hurt me and he said I just didn't get it. He said despite my tiringly optimistic view of the world, he would show me, that despite it all, this world really is kill or be killed." Sans winced.  
"Flowey says lots of things." Papyrus looked a little better.  
"He also told me... Something strange. He said that he wasn't always a flower. That he used to be a monster. His name was Asriel. He also said would kill me and anyone I told if I repeated that, but I'm not sure if that applies to this... Timeline." Frisk looked sad for a moment, but then their features grew hard, resolved.  
"Papyrus, I know Asriel, and we will save him. I'm determined to."  
*The thought of finally saving Asriel... It fills you with determination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...I swear that looked like a long chapter on my phone.


	9. In which a pun pops into my head and totally ruins the mood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoi! I added some fluff in this chapter (kinda) which I don't usually do, but I feel like it shouldn't just be action all the time. Anyways, thank you all for reading, stay determined, and have a fabu-ful day!!
> 
>  
> 
> I should never be given a keyboard...

Papyrus was sitting on his bed. Sans had just left with the human, and that was fine with him. He needed some time alone to sift through all the new information he had remembered. Unfortunately, Flowey had other plans. He popped up out of the ground almost as soon as he was alone.  
"Howdy, friend!" He said. Papyrus looked at him sadly and with a hint of fear.  
"Flowey, you can drop the act." He sighed.  
"What act? Gee Papyrus, what's got you so down in the dumps?" He giggled. Papyrus just stared at him.  
"C'mon" Flowey coaxed. "You can tell your old pal Flowey!" Papyrus let out a hoarse laugh.  
"Firstly, I know you don't think of me as your 'pal', and secondly, just because you become a Flower, doesn't mean you get to change your name, Asriel." Flowey giggled.  
"Oh, come on Papyrus, if you know who I used to be, you must know that Asriel is gone. There's no point in calling me that anymore, Papyrus. Golly, this'll be interesting. I wonder..." He giggled. "I would be mad that they ruined my favorite toy, but this will be much more interesting." He glanced out the window for a second.  
"Oops." He giggled. "Gotta go! Catch ya later, Papyrus!" And with that, he popped back into the ground, leaf-ing no indication he had ever been there. 

(Author's note: I'm sorry, I couldn't resist the leaf pun, because when a pun pops into my head, I gotta say it, or well, write it in this case. Well, all write,(hee hee) I won't keep you any longer, enjoy the story!)

Papyrus decided to go shopping, not because they were in urgent need of supplies, but because he wanted something to do that felt normal, familiar. Sans and Frisk, however, had insisted they go with him after what happened with Flowey. He appreciated the thought, though he was sure he would be fine with just a short trip to the store. Snowdin was full of people anyways, so Flowey wouldn't come out (he hoped). They walked to the store together, lost in their own thoughts. Snowdin was strangely empty today. Usually it was full of people. Maybe it was because of the time. It was quite late and though monsters didn't need much sleep, being made mostly of magic, they couldn't stay awake all night. Not that this seemed to stop Sans from falling asleep every ten seconds. They reached the store and the sign said open, but there was nobody at the counter. There was a note though. Frisk read the note aloud, their voice shaky.  
"Please don't hurt my family." It could have been because of the ominous note, or the fact that they were all exceedingly paranoid about Chara and Flowey, but the sudden jingle of bells made them all jump. A snowdrake stumbled in, with a deep gash across it's chest.  
"Kid... Had a knife... Ha... Ha... Mom? ... I'm... coming." He collapsed on the floor and started to turn to dust. They stood there for a few seconds, staring at the dust on the ground, before Papyrus spoke up  
"What do we do?"  
"Go home." Sans suggested.  
"It feels wrong to just leave the dust here." Said Frisk. Sans frowned.  
"Then what do you suggest we do with it?"  
"I know snowdrake liked puns, but that's about it, and it's not like we can sprinkle his dust over puns." Frisk said.  
"What if we buried it; then at least he would rest in peace." Papyrus suggested. Frisk agreed to that, and they buried the dust in an empty patch of snow near the river. The walk home was grim, and they walked as fast as they could. They were all on their wits end. If anything happens, I can just reload, Frisk reminded themselves. However, nothing disturbed them, indeed it seemed as though time itself were frozen. When they shut te door they all let out a sigh of relief. Frisk locked the door, even though it would probably do nothing if Flowey or Chara decided they wanted to come in. It made them all feel safer. They all agreed that there was no use sitting around worrying, so they decided to turn the tv on. Mettaton was on the screen.  
"Beauties and gentlebeauties, we have heard reports of a human child killing citezens. Viewers are urged to stay indoors until further notice. The royal guard is trying hard to track down this human, but so far they have evaded our capture. Also, the six human souls have gone missing and the kin-" Frisk turned the tv off, and Nobody objected. They were tired of hearing about Chara.  
"Maybe we could watch something else instead. I have an anime on disk that Alphys gave me. Better than watching that." Sans gestured to the tv.  
"Okay" Papyrus said and Frisk nodded their approval. Sans opened the cover. It was mew mew kissy cutie. Figures. Sans put it in the CD player and settled back onto the couch. The theme song began to play. Funnily enough, in all their runs, Frisk had never gotten around to watching that show. They knew that soon there would be war soon, they knew that this was possibly the last normal moment they would get, but this was a haven, an oasis of normality, of comfort. They weren't paying much attention to what the tv was saying, but they were happy for this, happy to be with these people. They lay their head on papyrus' shoulder, and before they knew it, they were drifting off to sleep. They heard a voice whisper in their ear.  
"Sweet dreams, kid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yeah! I forgot to mention at the beginning chapter notes, but I'm going to start making the chapters a bit longer. Nobody requested it (cuz nobody comments X3) but I feel like they should be a bit longer because I was looking at them and they are really short. So yeah... Also this took a long time because I was on holiday and you know how it goes... ya just get lazy :3. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	10. In which like 10 new characters are introduced

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OwO guess who's in this chapter? Jerry. Just kidding. There's no Jerry, I promise. :3 you'll see!  
> Muahahahahhahahahahaha!

Flowey bobbed on his stem excitedly.  
"Gosh Chara, it's been so long since I've had a soul inside me! With you, getting the six human souls was a cinch! But how will we get the last soul needed to make my transformation complete?" He hummed thoughtfully. Chara sat down on a tree stump near the small cabin they had settled in.  
"Well now that I have my own soul back, I don't need Frisk's to manifest my body anymore. Their soul is the last needed. You remember the plan. Are you ready, Asriel?" Flowey grinned.  
"Sure am!" He giggled excitedly. A small red soul floated out of their chest. It wasn't the bright red that it was in a pacifist run. It was darker, stained. Flowey was transfixed. This soul was so interesting! He felt like he could stare into it for ages, and keep seeing more and more. This soul was so complicated. Angry and sad and confused and alone and hateful. He blinked. The soul was drifting towards him slowly. Chara was holding a chest. Flowey knew what was in that chest. They opened it, and out floated the souls. Perseverance, bravery, patience, integrity, kindness, justice... Determination. Flowey giggled. The souls drifted towards him. He reached out to the souls, and they were sucked into him. He blinked and stretched his new arms.  
"Howdy, Chara! It's me, your best friend! I won't fail you this time. I promise!"

Frisk woke up to the sound of muffled footsteps on the floorboards. They squeezed their eyes shut. They didn't feel like waking up just yet. Bony fingers shook them gently.  
"C'mon, wake up kid. I made you some hot chocolate." Frisk reluctantly opened their eyes. Sans was in front of them, holding a mug full of hot coco. Frisk gladly accepted. They gripped the mug with both hands. It felt hot. They sipped it gingerly, but soon found it was just the right temperature. Sans grinned at them, but sobered up after a moment.  
"So, uh, I wanted to discuss Chara and Flowey. They're probably going to come after us at some point, and it would probably be better off if we weren't, y'know, here. So I was thinking, we should probably meet up with Undyne."  
"Won't she try to kill me the second she sees me? I don't really have time to fight her, considering the situation we're in." Sans nodded thoughtfully.  
"I'll call her and explain the situation. Hopefully she'll understand."

"What!?" Undyne yelled. "You're sharing your home with a human!?" Sans winced.  
"Wait, Undyne! Listen to me! There is another human on the loose, who is very dangerous, along with the king's reincarnated son who happens to be an evil flower. We don't have time to fight amongst ourselves!" Ouch. He probably could have worded that better.  
"You can take the other human's soul! Right now the fate of the world is at stake!" A loud sigh came from the other end of the receiver.  
"Fine. Come over to my place then. I get it. This is bigger than our freedom. But if you're staying at my house, I wanna help you fight!"  
"Okay. We could use some help anyways. Just be careful, okay? You're not as strong as you think." Undyne scoffed.  
"Oh, and you're so strong! Who do you think you are, mister one-hp?" Sans winced.  
"Actually, about that..." He thought for a moment. "Nevermind." 

The riverperson was in Snowdin, thank god. The four of them in one boat was a bit of a squeeze, so Frisk agreed to go first. The riverperson hummed absent-mindedly as they floated down the river.  
"Tra la la. Beware those that came from another time." Frisk said nothing. They came to the riverbank in waterfall. The riverperson left, and Frisk was alone for the time being. They hummed to themselves. The same notes kept coming to their head. They vaugly remembered a statue, and a music box. A name came to their head. "Memory". It was comforting and familiar. Papyrus arrived in the boat. Frisk's vision went black for a second and Sans was there too. He winked at them. They walked through waterfall silently. Eventually they came to a statue.  
"Wait here." Frisk said quietly. They walked forward, towards a bucket of umbrellas. "Please take one." They took an umbrella. Walking back to the statue, they placed the umbrella gently above it. Inside the statue, a song began playing softly. They nodded at the others, and they all proceeded, the song still ringing in their ears. It made them all feel a little more secure. They soon reached Undyne's house. Papyrus stepped forward and knocked on the door. The door opened, and Undyne stood in the entrance. Her muscles tensed at the sight of Frisk, but the smile she gave the three of them was sincere enough, if tinged with worry.  
"Why don't you three come in?"  
Papyrus walked in first, followed by Sans and Frisk. The room they walked into was small, and served as a kitchen, dining room and living room. There wasn't anywhere to sit, apart from one chair by the table, so everyone just stood around awkwardly. Frisk slowly looked at the monsters in the room, then sat cross-legged on the floor. Undyne tapped her foot nervously.  
"Umm, why don't I cook everyone some food? I can only make pasta but-"  
"I think it would be better if we ordered something instead." Sans suggested. He didn't want the house burning down.  
"Right." Undyne said. "What place should we order from?"  
"Mtt has a burger place in his hotel." Papyrus said. Frisk got out their phone and called the number for MTT's burger place.  
"Hello. This is MTT's burger emporium. Can I take your order?" A tired voice said on the other side.  
"Hi. Can I get two glamburgers, a steak, a legendary hero, and four starfaits?" Frisk said meekly after taking everyone's orders.  
"Sure thing, where should I deliver it to?" Frisk paused. Did monsters have addresses?  
"Um... Undyne's house?" They tried. Burgerpants laughed.  
"C'mon, little buddy. You act like you've never ordered food before." Frisk winced. "It'll be there in a sec." Frisk hung up the phone and wiped a few beads of sweat from their forehead. Undyne chuckled.  
"You're just like Alphys. She haaaates talking on the phone!" Frisk scowled.  
"It's only because I didn't know what to say when he asked where to deliver it! Do you guys even have addresses down here?" Undyne shrugged.  
"We still need to 'adress' this important issue." Sans joked. Papyrus frowned.  
"That was terrible, brother." Before they could say anything else, the doorbell rang. An annoyed looking burgerpants stood in the doorway, smoking a cigarette. He raised an eyebrow at Frisk.  
"Human? That explains a lot." He muttered under his breath before shoving a bag of food into their hands.  
"That'll be 500G." He drawled. MTT stuff sure was expensive Frisk only had 200G, but Sans had some extra money. He was probably filthy rich under that shabby exterior from never paying his tab, Frisk mused. Papyrus tipped him an extra 10G. Burgerpants left and they all sat down on the floor to enjoy their food. Halfway through their glamburger, a crash resonated through the house.  
"Oh no." Undyne groaned.  
"Ohhhh yesss" a mettalic voice shouted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup. Asriel. ASRIEL DREEMURR. And Chara. And Mettaton!!!! And Undyne! Wowie, so many new characters! (well Chara isn't new but still).


	11. In which there is some fluff and a whole lot of noodles for some reason aka in which we figure out how Alphys heats up her instant noodles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have officially written a novelette! Wow. This is cool.

Chara scowled.  
"They're not here!" They hissed. Asriel was turning the house inside out, looking for the skeleton brothers and Frisk.  
"Oh, give it up Asriel!" They yelled into the house.  
"Where would they hide anyways?" Asriel came out of the house.  
"They're not in there." He said.  
"Well duh Asriel! Destroy it!" They replied.  
"Destroy the house?" Asriel looked confused.  
"Yes." Chara said irritably. Asriel summoned one of his attacks, a giant skull that sucked things in like a black hole. It started slowly, a few shackles coming off the roof, but soon enough floorboards began to creak, bending and finally breaking with a sickening snap. After Asriel was finished, nothing remained of the house except for a small pile of debris. Asriel's face was wet with sweat, and he slumped to the ground. Chara grinned in satisfaction and, looking at Asriel said,  
"There's no point in moving forward now. You'd be too tired to move swiftly anyways, so we'd better stop at the inn before you pass out." Asriel chuckled weakly. He slowly got to his feet and began the walk to the inn. The undersnow tunnels were right next to the (now non-existent) house, so it wasn't too much effort. He stumbled up the steps wearily, and collapsed into the bed. Chara smiled.  
"Do you dream of monster sheep?" Asriel just grunted.  
"C'mon, humor me Asriel. You can't be that tired." Asriel grunted again. Chara sighed.  
"Wow, you must be really tired. Well, goodnight then." They turned off the light and smiled into the darkness. Asriel opened one eye.  
"Night Chara. See you tomorrow."

"Welcome beauties, to tonight's quiz show! I'm sure our lovely contestant here will participate and answer all the questions." His voice sounded hopeful. He didn't seem as malicious as he normally did. His tv announcer voice seemed more strained than usual.  
"Well, darling?" Frisk sighed.  
"Okay." The second the words came out of their mouth their soul was drawn out of their body by mettaton's magic.  
"The first question is... What kind of magic does our king use?" If he had a face he would probably look smug right now. No Alphys to help them this time. Luckily they had fought Asgore countless times before. They remembered with irritation the burning feeling on their skin and the smell of burnt hair.  
"Fire magic." They answered without hesitation.  
"Correct!" Mettaton shouted. "This one won't be quite so-" he was cut off by a crash. In the doorway was a furious looking Alphys.  
"Mettaton I t-told you not to-oh! Um, hi! I'm doctor Alphys. I, um" Mettaton's lights flashed in alarm.  
"Alphys, dear I was just-"  
"Don't wanna hear it m-Mettaton. I told you not to come here, and I turn my b-back for one second and you d-disappear off to Undyne's house." Mettaton let out a dramatic sigh.  
"Well darlings, hate to cut this short but, well dear Dr. Alphys here is being quite the wet blanket. But! This is only the pilot episode! Tune in next time, darlings!" And with that he blasted through the roof, leaving yet another hole in the house. Alphys smiled nervously at Frisk. Undyne was grinning from ear to ear.  
"Wow, you really showed that punk, huh, Alphys! Man, that was awesome!"  
"O-oh. Thanks Undyne. It was really nothing. He just-"  
"Nothing! No way! That was great!" Alphys was beet red.  
"N-not really" she muttered quietly. Undyne shrugged.  
"Come on in, Alphys! We could use some company." Alphys smiled nervously.  
"I-if that's okay with you guys, I mean I could always-" Undyne wouldn't hear any of it.  
"Nope. Come here!" Alphys smiled.  
"If you say so." Undyne patted the ground next to her, and Alphys walked over to where she was and sat on the floor.  
"Thanks so much for helping us, Alphys. We really appreciate it!" Said Frisk. Alphys smiled. She had let her guard down a little bit.  
"I'm Frisk." They said.  
"Yeah, I know. I've been, um, observing you journey through my console. S-seems as if you've been through a lot. If there's ever a-anything I can d-do to help, I'll be happy to, um, assist you in any way I can! In f-fact! I can put my number into y-your phone in case you ever need to call me." Frisk grinned and handed Alphys their phone.  
"Huh? W-where did you get this phone? It's ancient! I, uh, can't upgrade it for you, I don't h-have the equipment to, but, I c-can give you Mettaton's. he doesn't need it anymore since I added some features to his body that allows him to use a projector in his head- um... Head? Does he h-have a head? Anyways t-the point is he doesn't need a phone anymore so you can have his. I m-made it, actually. Hope you like it!" Frisk beamed at her.  
"Thanks Alphys." Sans looked thoughtful.  
"As much as I would love to see Alphys all nervous over the phone, I actually think maybe we should keep moving. With Alphys if that's ok. Chara could be coming towards us as we speak." He said.  
"O-oh! Sure. I can probably track their movements through my c-cameras, too!" Frisk nodded. And so they all set off towards Hotland. Frisk attempted to make small talk as they walked, but to no avail. The mood was a little grim for everyone. Eventually they came to a clearing filled with echo flowers. They all whispered the same name.  
"Asriel." The air blew a bit stronger in this clearing, and there was a strange, bitter taste to it, as if darkness clung to the breeze and seeped from every empty space. None of them cared what secrets that room held. They just wanted to get out of it. They proceeded without a word. As they walked towards Hotland, they could feel the air getting warmer and more humid. Water droplets clung to their face, and they begun to sweat. Soon the scenery changed to Hotland’s oranges and yellows. The lab was nearby. Papyrus froze for a second when he saw it, took a deep breath, and continued forward. They glanced at Undyne, and noticed she was sweating as well. They were all a little relieved when they stepped into Alphys’ air-conditioned lab. Frisk looked at their new phone and started. Their trip had taken 45 minutes. They asked Alphys if she had any food. They hadn’t finished their glamburger and were hungry from the walk. They still had their moms butterscotch pie, but for some reason they felt like they should save that. Alphys offers them some instant noodles, and they accept. There wasn’t a microwave around. Suddenly an idea struck them. They poured some water into the instant noodle container. They walked through the doors of the lab, into the sweltering heat. They held the noodles above the lava. It hurt their hands. They walk inside. It was worth a shot. Sans is watching the computer screen. He looked at the kid and let out a chuckle.  
“Good strategy kid, but it works better if you have gravity magic.” He beckoned Frisk to come back outside with him. His eye begins to glow, and the noodles are lifted into the air, and down near the lava.  
"And now we wait." He said.

Meanwhile in the lab

"So instant noodles are basically like spaghetti... But without the sauce?" Papyrus asked.  
"W-well, they do have flavoring. Like this one is chicken flavoured. But y-yeah, basically." Papyrus eyes the noodles.  
"I, the great Papyrus, will take a packet!" Alphys cringed a little.  
"O-okay just, don't burn my lab down please. That would n-not be good." Papyrus narrowed his eyes at her.  
"I agree to your terms." Suddenly there is a loud bang. Sans and Frisk run inside, instant noodles dropped into the lava, never to be seen again. When the dust clears, Mettaton stands there grandly.  
"Alphys, dear. I've had some issues with my- oh." He sees everyone standing in the lab. "Well. This is awkward. Uh, sorry for trying to kill you?"  
"Hi Mettaton" Papyrus says. Alphys rolls her eyes.  
"Do you r-really feel the need to smash a wall every time you enter a room? S-seriously. I've had to pay over 1000g in repairs this month because of you! Jeez. What was it t-that you needed?"  
"My new form, darling, it's energy consumption is too rapid."  
Alphys groans.  
"Not this again! I-I told you Mettaton. Your new body is a work in progress. You shouldn't expect everything to be perfect. P-plus I don't have time to work on you right now." Mettaton lets out a robotic sigh.  
"Fine then. I'll have to come with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know. I keep moving these guys away from Chara and Asriel, just to prolong the story. Sue me.


	12. In which we get more fluff

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! Come Tumbl with me at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/pigicemaster ! I have two OC's there!

"O-okay. But we should all get some rest first. It's getting late." Alphys managed to find some mattresses somewhere, and Mettaton apparently had a charging station in the lab. Papyrus and Undyne settled down to sleep. Sans and Frisk were about to as well, but Alphys beckoned them to follow her.   
"Um, so you know I've been watching your journey through my console." She started nervously. There was a moment of silence.  
"Yes?" Frisk prompted.  
"Well, I heard some conversations that I'm pretty sure I don't fully understand. Resets, timelines, save points, Gaster. That name. It feels strange. L-like it doesn't want to be said. But familiar at the same time. But, uh, he was your dad, w-wasn't he, Sans?" Sans tensed.  
"Yeah. He was."  
"W-what happened?" Her voice was almost a whisper.  
"You already heard the story. You know what happened." Alphys narrowed her eyes at him.  
"Sans, c'mon, I know how to spot when someone isn't t-telling the truth."   
"That IS the truth." He said forcefully. The pinpricks of magic in his eyes were dim.  
"But is it the full truth?" Alphys asked softly. Sans was silent for a moment. His breathing was heavy.  
"You can tell us anything, Sans." Sans exhaled forcefully.  
"Fine. If you want the full story, you can have it. The truth is... My dad, he wasn't the greatest. He was a good man, but when he got access to all the timelines, he went mad with power. He did 'experiments' on them. What would happen if I killed this person? He always used the same excuse. It doesn't hurt our friends. Our friends are fine. Our timeline is fine. He knew what he was doing was wrong. Poisoning people to develop cures, experiments that weren't right. He was slowly becoming mad with power. He spent every day traveling time or in his study. I didn't do anything because, well, he was my dad. I didn't want to hurt him. I was blinded by my love for him. But, one day, he wanted to commit full-blown genocide. I couldn't allow this. We fought. I tried to stop him using his machine. He wouldn't listen to me. I begged him to just forget about this, to come home and be my dad again. He didn't listen. He wanted to see what would happen." Tears were forming in Sans' eyes. "I tried to stop him from going into that machine. I failed. So I did the only thing I could do. I broke the machine. I sent my dad to an abyss. Do you know how it feels," tears were rolling down his cheeks. "To carry that burden. I sentenced my own dad to a fate worse than death. All because I was too weak to stop him. And now it's too late to tell him I'm sorry for not trying harder." Frisk looked like they were about to cry too. They engulfed him in a hug.  
"It's not your fault Sans." They said quietly in his ear. This just made him sob harder.   
"What did I do to deserve friends like you guys?" Frisk smiled at him.  
"You are a genuinely good person who just wants to protect everyone. But, that's not your job, you know? It's not your responsibility to carry that weight." He smiled at them, and his eyes crinkled around the edges. A genuine smile.  
"You can get through this. Now. I think it's time we went to bed, don't you? It's getting late." Alphys nodded in agreement. Frisk and Sans walked into the next room, where Papyrus and Undyne were sleeping, and Alphys went up to her room. They each laid down on their respective beds. Sans would sleep easier tonight. Not great, but easier. A weight had been lifted.

Papyrus was the first one to wake up. He got out of bed, careful not to wake anyone up. He enjoyed these moments of solitude, ever since he had remembered everything. He liked having time to sift through things in his head. It made the world make much more sense. He wasn't feeling apathetic at all. If anything, this had increased his caring about everyone around him. He now had a purpose. To stop Frisk from resetting. And he knew this run was different. Something had happened. Something had changed. He knew the way his brother felt though. Despite what some people might think, (cough Flowey cough) he wasn't an idiot. He could see his brother wasn't happy. His thoughts were interrupted by a sound to his left. Undyne was waking up.  
"Ugh... Papyrus?" She sounded groggy and tired.  
"Yes, Undyne?" Undyne yawned.  
"Can you get me a glass of water?" Papyrus nodded. He walked over to the fridge. At the back, he found a few bottles of water. It must be pretty hard having running water in Hotland, it would probably just dry up immediately. He was about to walk back up into Alphys' room, but stopped when he spotted Mettaton. Mettaton had insisted that he sleep down here, away from everyone else. Papyrus wondered why that was. Mettaton chuckled quietly.  
"I know you're there, darling. I'm charging, not asleep." Papyrus suddenly became very interested in the tiles on the floor.  
"Sorry." He muttered. He was about to walk upstairs when Mettaton stopped him.  
"Papyrus?" Papyrus raised his head. "I haven't spent much time with you, but whenever I've seen you you've always been so upbeat and full of energy. Why are you being so quiet?" Papyrus frowned slightly.  
"There's a lot going on right now." Mettaton makes a sound of agreement.  
"There is, isn't there. You can talk to me, if you want." Papyrus smiles.   
"Thanks Mettaton. But... Why are you talking to me?" Mettaton's lights turn blue for a second.  
"Well, everybody seems to be a bit mad at me at the moment. Except you and perhaps Frisk, but I don't really know them that well and I've seen you around, I always meant to stop and say 'hi' for a moment." Papyrus genuinely grins at this.  
"Thanks Mettaton."   
"You're welcome, darling." Mettaton says. He sounds happy. Papyrus walks into the next room, and hands Undyne the water bottle.  
“Thanks” She says. “What took so long, though?” Papyrus paused. He felt like he should keep his talk with Mettaton something private.  
“I was… seeing if there were any instant noodles left.” He lied.  
“Well? Were there?” Undyne practically shouted. Alphys stirred but did not wake up. Papyrus winced.   
“No.” Undyne looked disappointed. Papyrus grinned a little. He felt kind of bad for lying to his friend, but Undyne could be a little insensitive sometimes, and he felt like this was something he wanted to keep to himself. He was sure Undyne would understand. Undyne chugged half of the water. Alphys tossed and turned behind them. Papyrus turned to look at her. Her face was contorted in confusion and fear. She seemed to be having a nightmare. She curled up into a ball and began making whimpering noises. Papyrus and Undyne looked at each other. Undyne's face was full of concern.  
"Should we wake her up?" She asked. Papyrus nodded.  
"I think so." Undyne took hold of Alphys' shoulders and shook her gently. Well gently for Undyne. Alphys yelped in shock as she awoke. Her eyes shot open, wide with fear, and she processed Undyne. She wriggled in Undyne's arms, trying to escape.  
"Undyne!" Undyne looked a little shocked.   
"Alphys. Alphys. It's me. You're safe." Alphys finally began to process that she wasn't in any danger, and stopped moving.   
"Oh. My god. I'm so sorry Undyne I-I just had a n-nightmare and I-"  
"Shh." Undyne cut her off. "I know. It's okay. That must've been one hell of a nightmare. What was it about?" Alphys looked very uncomfortable.  
"I don't want to talk about it." She said. Papyrus didn't blame her. From what he'd seen, this must have been an awful nightmare. He couldn't even imagine. He'd only ever had one nightmare. It was when he was young. He couldn't remember what it had been about, but he woke up sweating bullets and crying. He remembered running into Sans' room and he remembered Sans hugging him and telling him it was okay. That everything was alright. And Papyrus had crawled into bed with Sans, not wanting to leave his brother. And now he approached Alphys with the same tenderness Sans had when he was young. He engulfed Alphys in a hug, despite the fact that he barely knew her.  
"It's going to be okay." He said. He didn't know if that was true or not, but he knew sometimes those were the words someone needed to hear. Undyne joined them in their group hug. Alphys smiled weakly.  
"Thanks guys. T-this really means a lot to me, okay?" Undyne grinned back at her.  
"You mean a lot to me, nerd!" She said as she playfully punched Alphys in the shoulder. It seemed as if everything was going to be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awh, poor Alphys, poor Snas.


	13. In which there is more fluff. So much fluff... you know what that means (=

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a Papyrus/Mettaton bonding scene, so how about a Mettaton/Frisk bonding scene? I want to squish Frisk in this chapter (in a good way)! Sorry that it's a little shorter that usual. There was only so much I could do with this chapter 0w0. I am loving writing this though! And wow, 400 views. That might not seem like a lot in the scheme of things, but it means a lot to me. You guys are awesome! So ya, I'll stop rambling and just get to the story.

“Azzy, wake up!” Chara shook Asriel. He jolted awake. He blinked a few times, then grinned at Chara.  
“Morning” He yawned. Chara grinned at him. They were full of hope. They felt a giddy excitement. There was something almost palpable in the air, and they couldn’t quite put their finger on it. Asriel lifted himself out of bed. Chara held their hand out to him.  
“C’mon Az, it’s time to end this!” Asriel took Chara’s hand, grinning.  
“Let’s do it.” He agreed. And so they set off. Chara swung their hands by their sides. The sun was shining, and the snow was fresh on the ground. Today day would be a good day.

Sans rubbed his eye sockets. He didn’t feel like getting up just yet. Here, when his eyes were closed, he could escape reality and he didn’t have to worry about resets or Flowey or Chara or his dad. He knew that just laying here would do nothing, that he was just delaying the inevitable, but he couldn’t bring himself to get up. So he would just stay here a little longer. Frisk sat, looking at him. They couldn’t bring themselves to wake him up. A little voice in their head told them to keep going, to push forward, but they ignored it. This was nice. They could wait a little longer. They walked into the kitchen, where the rest of their friends were chatting amiably. They sat down between Undyne and Papyrus.   
“Hello human!” Papyrus said. Frisk’s other friends greeted them in a similar manner.  
“What were you talking about?” Frisk asked.  
“We were just talking about one of Alphys’ shows!” Alphys blushed.  
“I w-was just kinda rambling about anime. N-nothing important.” Papyrus frowned.  
“Is my brother still asleep?” Frisk nodded. Papyrus sighed.  
“I should probably go wake him up.” Frisk shrugged. Papyrus left the room. Sans was lying in the bed. Papyrus walked over to him and shook him gently. Sans rolled over. Papyrus shook him again, this time more firmly. Sans opened one eye.  
"Sup bro." He said. Papyrus glared at him playfully.  
"It's almost mid-day, brother. Don't you think it's time you got up?" Sans shrugged.  
"Guess I'm just a bicycle." Papyrus looked at him questioningly.  
"What." He said flatly.  
"Cuz I'm two tired." He drawled. Papyrus groaned.  
"Aw come on bro, I'm just wheelie, wheelie exhausted." Papyrus rolled his eyes.   
“Come on, brother. Everyone’s waiting for us in the kitchen.” Sans got up and followed Papyrus into the kitchen. Frisk ran up to Sans and hugged him warmly. He hugged them back. Sans went and picked up some food from Grillby’s for them all to share. Sans munched on a burger (somehow). Alphys was going on about an anime to Undyne, and Papyrus was staring off into the distance thoughtfully. Something was wrong, but Frisk couldn’t quite figure out what. Then they realised. Mettaton. They walked into the next room, where Mettaton’s charger was. Mettaton sat there, doing nothing. Frisk walked up to him.  
“Hello darling” He said. Frisk frowned at him.  
“Aren’t you lonely?” They asked. Mettaton thought for a second.  
“A little.” he admitted. Frisk smiled.  
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep you company.” Mettaton’s lights went from red to yellow. Frisk wasn’t quite sure how Mettaton’s lights corresponded with his mood, but they figured they did somehow.   
“So. Do you like having a physical form?” Frisk asked.  
“How do you know about that?” Frisk shrugged.  
“I know a lot of things.” Mettaton let out a frustrated sigh.  
“Don’t be so vague, darling.” Frisk giggled.  
“Mettaton, you should come into the kitchen with us.” Mettaton sighed again.  
“I’m afraid Dr. Alphys isn’t very happy with me.” Frisk sat next to him.  
“That’s okay! Just apologize. I’m sure Alphys would forgive you. She’s very nice, you know.” Mettaton let out a soft chuckle.  
“It’s not that easy, darling.” Frisk looked at him earnestly.  
“A heartfelt apology is very powerful, Mettaton. As long as she knows you really mean it, I’m sure she’ll forgive you. Worked on Sans.” Mettaton looked at them.  
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Frisk shrugged and stood up.   
“So are you coming or not?” They held their hand out to him. He chuckled again.  
“What the heck. I’m coming.” Frisk smiled. Mettaton took their hand and they walked or rolled in Mettaton’s case, into the kitchen. Everyone stopped talking when they came in. Mettaton cleared his throat awkwardly.  
“I would like to say sorry for what I did. I know I shouldn’t have gone after the human, and I hope we can just put all this behind us.” He said, more quiet than normal. Papyrus grinned at him goofily, encouraging. Alphys looked at him. She couldn’t read his expression, him being a robot, but the wistfulness in his voice couldn’t be missed. Alphys smiled nervously.  
“It’s okay, Mettaton. I forgive you.”  
“Told ya” Frisk whispered to him. Papyrus patted the seat next to him. Mettaton rolled over. A happy atmosphere hung in the room. Everyone was content. They knew danger was coming, of course, but for now they could just be here, in this small bubble of happiness. They could deal with all the bad later. Or so they thought.  
*CRASH*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (= You knew it wouldn't last.


	14. The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys. It's the end. Thank you for coming through this story with me, it's been a hell of a ride. You guys are awesome.  
> <3

"The look on all of your faces right now is just precious!" Asriel laughed. Frisk looked confused.  
"Asriel?" Asriel just laughed again. Chara looked at them all, eyes lt with childish excitement.   
"C'mon Asriel, let's do this!"  
*The Dreemurs attack!  
Asriel was the first to attack, aiming to take out Alphys first, but Undyne jumped in front of her. Meanwhile, Chara slashed their knife aiming to hit Frisk, but missed.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Plead  
"Asriel. I don't want to fight you. Please stop."  
Recollection flashed in his eyes.  
"Urah ha ha! You're so stupid. I don't need anyone now. I have my best friend with me, and we're going to liberate this world." Asriel attacked Mettaton this time, and he took the hit square in the chest. Mettaton just laughed and rapped on his metallic body with his fist.  
"You can hurt my body but you can't hurt me, darling." Chara swung at Frisk again. Frisk takes the hit. -4 hp.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Plead  
"Don't you remember me Asriel? Please stop doing this."  
"I remember how you betrayed me! I sacrificed myself and you reset and made it worth nothing!" He replied angrily. He fired with full force at Papyrus, but Mettaton took the hits. Chara swings again at Frisk, and Frisk tries to dodge but one of the bullets hit their arm. -3 hp.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Apologise  
"I'm sorry, Asriel. I care about you."  
"You don't know me!" A shadow falls across Asriel's face. He aimed to hit Sans, but he dodged swiftly. Chara swung at Frisk. Undyne blocked them with spears.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Apologise  
"I'm sorry. I can help you."  
"No you can't. You can't!" His attacks began to shake. He aimed for Undyne. She blocked most of his attacks, but took one in the head. -6 hp. Chara swung at Frisk, and hit them -4 hp.  
*Item  
*Pie  
Asriel's nose quivered.  
"Mom's pie... No! All that's in that pie is lies!" His voice shook. Tears began to form. His attacks began to falter. He aimed for Alphys, but she easily dodged the shaky bullets. Chara's hand was shaking, too, but they struck harder than ever at Frisk. Undyne took the hit. -9999 damage. Her eyes went wide. Her arms started to crack.   
"So, this is how it ends." She remembered her friends and stared up at the siblings in defiance.  
"You may have taken me but I know, deep inside me, this world will live on!" She turns to Alphys, who was staring at her in horror.  
"I'm sorry Alphys. I love you." Undyne's body was splitting apart.  
"I love you too" Alphys whispered. Undyne's dust scattered. Alphys ran over to her remains. Tears were streaming silently down her face. She collapsed on the ground. She was overcome with grief. She stared up at Asriel with a twisted, insane smile.  
"Kill me!" She pleaded.  
"Kill me kill me kill me!" Asriel looked a little pained. He attacked her, and Mettaton rushed to take the hit, but Chara blocked him with their knife. In a few moments, Alphys was dust too. Frisk and Papyrus were crying, and Sans' smile was gone. Mettaton's lights had gone dark.   
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Plead  
"You don't have to kill, Asriel! We can be happy!"   
"You'll just reset again. But I can end this now." He was crying, too. He and Chara looked at each other and a silent agreement passed between them. Asriel summoned his bullets from behind Sans. This caught him by surprise and he was forced to move forward. Chara was there, and they slashed at him. He saw at the last second. He tried to dodge it but he was too late. Ketchup stained his jacket red. He walked over to Papyrus and hugged him.   
"Don't leave me behind Sans!" Papyrus shouted. Sans smiled at him weakly.  
"See... You later... Bro." Sans didn't take long to dissolve like Undyne did. He dissolved easily, like a sugar cube in a glass of water. Papyrus stared in despair as Sans' dust slipped through his fingers.  
"Brother." He whispered weakly.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Plead  
"Please stop Asriel. I know there's a good person inside of you. You wanted to free monsters, right? You cared about your mom and dad and Chara too... And if you ever truly cared about them you'll know that this isn't them. This is a shadow of them, a puppet. They never wanted to hurt anyone before now. Please help me save them."  
Asriel's voice cracks.  
"No... No! Stop! Stop it!"   
Mettaton stepped forward.  
"I've had enough. As any of my fans would know, I was first created as a human eradication robot. Later, I was given a different body to suit my needs. But those functions were never fully removed. Witness the power of Mettaton NEO!" Mettaton reached behind him and pressed a button. His body began to change, new metal plates jutting out until Mettaton NEO stood there. Asriel attacked Papyrus. Papyrus dodged. His face was hard. Tears lines could be seen on his cheekbones. Chara striked Mettaton. -9999 hp. Mettaton froze.  
"No! I have to... Protect. Papyrus!" Papyrus was crying again. Mettaton exploded with a loud bang. Debris flew everywhere. A piece was embedded in Frisk's arm. They started to bleed out. -4 hp.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Plead  
"I love you, Asriel. Stop, please." Asriel just shook his head. Tears were streaming down his face. In one last fit of despair he fired his cannon at Papyrus. When all the magic disappeared, all that was left was Frisk, scrap metal, and a whole lot of dust. Chara struck Frisk with the knife. -4. The wound in their arm was losing blood by the second. -1. They felt faint, but they held on to their determination.  
*Act  
*Asriel Dreemur  
*Plead  
"Please Asriel, aren't we best friends?" Something inside Asriel broke at that moment.   
"Frisk. I'm so sorry. I can't. I can't." He broke down completely. Chara's hand was shaking.  
Frisk walked over to Asriel and put their arms around him.  
"It's okay." Frisk said. "But I need you. I need you to help me save Chara." Asriel nodded. He outstretched his arm. But instead of white magic that flowed through his palms, this magic was green. It flowed through them, tickling their insides and restoring them. Chara looked at Asriel.  
"You betrayed me!" They hissed. Asriel shook his head solemnly.   
"I just want to help you Chara. It's all I've ever wanted."   
"We both do!" Frisk chimed in. Chara shook their head violently. They slashed at Asriel. He dodged.   
*Act  
*Chara Dreemur  
*Promise  
"C'mon, Chara. We could go to the surface. We could live with mom and dad. We could be a family!" Asriel said.  
Chara shook their head again.  
"Mom is dead." Asriel smiled at them hopefully.  
"We could find a way to bring her back." Chara slashed at Asriel again. He dodged.  
*Act  
*Chara Dreemur  
*Promise  
"I promise I'd never leave you. We could be friends forever! We could grow up together like we were always meant to do!" Tears begun to form in Chara's eyes.  
"We can't Asriel. Frisk will just reset again."  
Frisk shook their head.  
"I promise I won't."  
"And how do I know you won't break your promise?" Chara questioned.  
"Because you're my friend." Frisk said forcefully.  
"Look, the ground we stand upon is being forced from under our feet, but I still have faith in you. Doesn't that count for something?" That seemed to resonate with Chara.  
"I remember making a promise to myself to save all monster kind. I never got the chance to make good on that promise. But maybe I can fulfill it now. And you can fulfill your promise, too. I really hope you aren't lying, Frisk."  
"I'm not." They promised. Tears began to run down Chara's face.  
"Then bring me my friends and family."  
{[Reset]}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am writing a part two of this story. It will be called "Dancing Into the Abyss" Hmm... do you think dia has a nice ring to it? Idk. But most importantly, thank you guys so much for coming through this with me, everyone who leaves a kudos or comment brightens my day. What did you guys think of the ending? Thank you all. Good night.


End file.
